Friday, September 11, 2009

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Michele and I have been working on a San Francisco-style barbecue sauce, called SFQ. It's quite an unusual, but still familiar BBQ sauce that features hints of chocolate, coffee, and red wine vinegar.

It's not quite ready for sale yet (but will be for Christmas, hint, hint), but I've been playing around with it in various recipes, and this meatloaf video shows one such experiment.When I've done "barbecue meatloaf" before, I've simply used the standard spoon the glaze on the top of the loaf and bake it method. This time I wanted to line the loaf pan with some of the sauce, press the meat in, and let it roast in the goodness.

I was envisioning a beautiful, glossy finish when I turned it on to the serving platter. As you'll see, it wasn't quite as aesthetically pleasing as I had hoped (it was ugly). But hey, this is quick and dirty, fast and half-assed, home cooking. It may not have looked good, but it tasted fine!

When you factor in the almost complete absence of prep work, the results can't be described as anything other than successful. The rich, aromatic barbecue sauce permeated the meatloaf more deeply than if it had simply been baked on top.

Of course, if you do have the time and energy, this same upside down barbecue glaze method would work so nicely on a more involved meatloaf recipe with the traditional sautéed diced aromatic vegetables. Either way, it's just dinner. Enjoy!

I love the idea of bringing that upside down cake flare to a meatloaf. If only there was a way to make it work better. Maybe putting it right on the bottom of the oven might help. Keep at it, Chef John.